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Blaine sits on the edge of the bed, watching the clock on their nightstand intently. Kurt, lounging in the doorway of their en suite, watches his husband as he continues to brush his teeth.
The clock hits midnight, and Blaine exhales loudly, looking over at Kurt with a beam filled with nervousness, anticipation, and pure excitement.
“It’s officially our baby’s due date.”
Kurt smiles around his toothbrush, ducking back into the bathroom for a moment to spit and put his toothbrush back in its holder. When he returns to the doorway just a second later, Blaine’s still watching him with that unmistakable sparkle in his eye. “It is. How are you feeling?”
“Excited. Nervous,” Blaine lets out a shaky chuckle. “Like I’m not going to be able to sleep until she’s here.”
“I know the feeling,” he replies, switching off the bathroom light and moving to sit next to Blaine on the bed. “But we’re ready. We’ve had the baby bag prepared for over a week, her nursery is all set up, and everyone who needs to be is on speed dial.”
“I know,” Blaine sighs, leaning into Kurt’s side as his husband combs his hand soothingly through his hair. “It’s been feeling real for awhile now, but it’s just that today is the date. It’s more final, even though I know that it could realistically be even another week before she is actually born.”
Kurt nods. “It’s crazy. We’ve been sleeping with our ringers on all night for two weeks now, but I still feel the need to triple-check my phone to make sure it’s on before I go to bed every night.”
“And we’re going to bed earlier than usual,” Blaine comments. “We normally don’t begin our bedtime routine until at least twelve-thirty, if not one.”
“I just can’t bear to be up any longer,” Kurt admits. “It’s like when you were a kid and it’s the night before your birthday, or it’s Christmas Eve — you want to go to sleep faster so the next day can come quicker.”
“Except we don’t know exactly when that day’s going to be.”
“Exactly.”
Blaine hums contentedly as Kurt moves his hand from his hair to scratch gently up and down his back. “It’s June 21st. This could be our daughter’s birthday. It’s such an insignificant day to us now, but it could be one of the most important dates to us in just a blink of an eye.”
“It could be the day we become dads.”
Blaine smiles softly up at Kurt. “Well, in case today is the day, happy last night of not being dads. Forever.”
Kurt chuckles warmly, pressing a sweet kiss to his husband’s lips. “Ditto to you. And if today’s not the day, we’ll say that every night until she’s here.”
“Absolutely,” Blaine’s eyes sparkle as he gets up from the bed to turn the lights off. “Now let’s go to bed, because I want tomorrow to come faster.”
When he returns to the bed, he immediately rests his head on Kurt’s chest, now lying down. “We could be holding our little girl at this time tomorrow.”
“Shh, don’t get our hopes up,” Kurt replies. “You know babies are rarely born exactly on their due dates.”
“I know, I’m just excited.”
“I am too. Is your ringer on?”
Blaine picks up his phone from the nightstand, clicking the button off and on again. “Yep. Yours?”
Kurt mirrors his action, then sinks fully into the bed, tugging Blaine closer to him. “Yeah. I’m so tired, but I don’t know if I can even sleep.”
“I know. But the quicker we sleep, the quicker tomorrow will come.”
******
At first, Blaine thinks it’s a dream.
He and Kurt were running around the hallways at the old McKinley, having a personal lock-in sleepover for the two of them. Dream-Kurt suggests they find an empty classroom to “set up a bed,” and Dream-Blaine definitely knows that he does not mean to sleep.
Just as Dream-Kurt suddenly stops Dream-Blaine outside of Sue Sylvester’s former office and proposes an enticing round of spite sex on her desk, his phone rings in his pocket, totally ruining the moment.
Dream-Blaine almost ignores it, and then actual-Blaine realizes why his phone would be ringing in the middle of the night in real life, and he forces himself to jolt awake.
Not even looking at the caller ID, Blaine swipes open the call with his eyes still almost entirely closed. “Hello?”
“Blaine, it’s time! She’s right on time! My water just broke and — oh my god, Jesse, the bag’s already in the car! We’ve had it there for days!” Rachel shouts, obviously fumbling with attempting to corral her antsy husband and get ready to leave. “Blaine, just wake Kurt up and get to the hospital as fast as possible.”
“Okay. Okay! We’ll see you in a bit; hang in there!” Blaine’s already out of bed, pulling on proper clothes and flipping the lights on, which still doesn’t wake Kurt.
Kurt’s an embarrassingly deep sleeper. Though he may not seem like it, he can sleep through nearly anything if he wants to. And despite the countless recordings Blaine has taken over the years, he does not talk in his sleep, and he definitely does not snore, thank you very much.
(Blaine just finds it cute.)
“Kurt, Kurt, wake up!” Blaine frantically shakes his husband as he attempts to pull a shirt over his head with one hand. “Kurt, it’s time! Rachel just called!”
“Oh my god!” Kurt shoots up in bed, tearing off his pajamas with much less care than he would use in literally any other situation. “Oh my god, oh my god, okay. What do I do? I need to call my dad and Carole!”
“You just get dressed and grab the baby bag, I’ll call everyone,” Blaine instructs, hands shaking as he scrolls through the contacts of his phone to Carole’s number.
She picks up before the second ring. “Hi, honey. Is it time?”
“Yes, yes, Rachel just called, we’re going to be on our way to the hospital as soon as we can get out the door,” he relays, breathless with excitement.
“She’s right on time, huh?” Carole chuckles, obviously moving around on the other side of the phone.
“It’s like she knew we couldn’t wait to meet her.”
“Okay, Blaine, Burt and I are both up. He’s already getting us a flight out there. Do you need anything else?”
“Uh,” Blaine glances around the room, and the only thing that stands out to him is his frantic husband muttering a list of things to himself as he double-checks the baby bag. “Maybe just a little encouragement for Kurt would be nice; he’s freaking out even more than I am. I’ll put you on speaker.”
Blaine holds his phone out so Kurt could hear his parents. “Kurt, honey, just breathe. You’re ready for this,” Carole says soothingly.
“I just know I’m forgetting something,” Kurt replies, counting the items on his fingers as he whispers to himself.
“Look, Kurt, you’re going to be fine,” Burt interjects. “We just booked our flights for five-thirty this morning. We’ll be there by eight.”
Kurt suddenly stops his rummaging. “What time is it? I haven’t even looked at a clock since I’ve been up.”
“It’s three-eleven in the morning,” Carole answers. “You boys will do great. Tell Rachel that we’re on our way, and that we love her.”
“Will do,” Blaine reports back. “See you guys soon!”
“Good luck! We’re so happy for you both, and we love you!”
As the call ends, Blaine immediately locks eyes with Kurt, an unstoppable grin stretching across his face. “Ready?”
Kurt nods, exhaling loudly. “Ready. Let’s go have a baby!”
******
On the short trip to the hospital, Blaine calls and texts his mom, Cooper, and various members of the glee club. Pam is also making the immediate trip from Ohio, while Cooper and the more distant members of the glee club merely send their congratulations and expressions of excitement. The glee club members who do not live in New York will get to see their daughter soon enough, however, as Finn’s auditorium dedication is set for two weeks later.
The former glee club members who do live in the area had previously promised that if their baby was born in the middle of the night, they’d come the immediate next day to visit, as to not create a huge influx of people in the waiting room.
When they get to the hospital, Kurt and Blaine practically run inside, nearly out of breath when they reach the check-in desk.
“How can I help you?” The young woman asks, and thankfully, Kurt launches into action-mode, because Blaine can barely speak. It’s suddenly all so real.
“Kurt and Blaine Anderson-Hummel. Rachel Berry should have recently checked in, and she is our surrogate.”
The attendant smiles up at the two of them, handing them pre-prepared hospital bracelets. “She made sure that we knew you two would be coming. We had the bracelets prepared for you, and these will identify you with both Rachel and your child.”
“Thank you,” Kurt replies, immediately snapping his onto his wrist. “Is there any paperwork we need to sign?”
She shakes her head. “I only need to see a form of photo ID from both of you, and then the necessary paperwork will be taken care of once you’re settled in the room with Rachel.”
“Great,” Kurt responds, and both he and Blaine present their driver’s licenses, quickly getting the okay to head to Rachel’s room.
“She’s on floor three, room six.”
“Thank you,” both of them reply in unison, barely managing not to run to the elevator.
As soon as they find Rachel’s room, the waterworks begin. Technically, Blaine starts uncontrollably shaking with his cry-laugh at the sight of Rachel in the hospital bed and gown, which causes Rachel to start to cry and laugh at Blaine, which causes Kurt to tear up at the two people he loves most.
“Oh my god,” Blaine sniffles, resting a hand gently on Rachel’s stomach when he pulls back from hugging her. “Oh my god, it’s real! It’s so real. She’s almost here.”
She nods, still laughing a bit through the tears that run down her face. “I know, it’s so crazy! You guys are going to be dads!”
“How’s the pain?” Blaine asks concernedly, taking her hand in his. “Is it bad?”
“It’s not great,” Rachel replies. “But it’s bearable at the moment. The nurses said that I could progress quickly at any moment though, or I could continue to progress slowly.”
“Well, I think we’re all a little biased towards the first option,” Kurt remarks. “I can’t believe it’s time.”
“I can barely remember life without baby Anderson-Hummel hitchhiking in my stomach. I’m kind of going to miss her.”
“Well, she’s just a few streets away,” Blaine grins, squeezing Rachel’s hand as two nurses walk into the room.
“Hi, I’m Catherine,” one greets, shaking both Kurt and Blaine’s hands in turn.
The second nurse follows suit. “And I’m Amelia. You two must be the proud fathers!”
Kurt smiles. “We are. I’m Kurt, and this is my husband, Blaine.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Amelia grins, walking over to help Catherine track some information from Rachel’s monitors. “Congratulations, by the way!”
“Thank you,” Blaine responds, glancing excitedly between his husband and Rachel. “We’re very excited.”
“They’re going to be the best dads,” Rachel comments. “And they’re going to make the cutest kids!”
Catherine smiles. “How do you guys all know each other?”
“Well, Rachel and I met our sophomore year of high school in our glee club,” Kurt explains. “We both met Jesse that year as well, but he was a few years older and in a rival glee club. Blaine and I met a year later, and we’ve all been through a lot together ever since.”
“Wow, that’s impressive,” Amelia says. “I guess that might answer my next question, but I technically have to ask it. Rachel, would you want Kurt and Blaine to be in the room during labor and delivery? If not, which is totally understandable, we can set them up in a recovery room awhile.”
Rachel rolls her eyes, good-naturedly, gesturing in their general direction. “Please. We’ve been through everything together. This is just another box on our checklist.”
“That’s what I thought,” Amelia replies. “But I just have to check, because you’re going to be very exposed, and sometimes people feel weird having anyone but their partner in with them.”
“Oh, they’ll be fine. Honestly, if I had to choose, they’d be in here over Jesse,” Rachel remarks bluntly, reaching over to pat her husband’s arm. “No offense, sweetie. But it’s their child.”
Jesse raises his hands in defense as the nurses laugh. “None taken.”
Catherine chuckles. “Okay, then. We’re going to see how dilated you are, Rachel. Remember, you’re at the point where you can get an epidural if you’d want one.”
“I’m going to try to go without one for as long as I can,” Rachel says, and both Kurt and Blaine share a look.
Let’s see how long that’ll last.
It lasts about another hour.
At the time of the most recent check, she was about six centimeters dilated. Now, at the check a little over an hour later, she’s at eight and practically screaming for an epidural.
“I NEED THE DRUGS!” She shrieks, bent over the side of the bed with Jesse rubbing her back, both Kurt and Blaine letting her crush each of their respective hands. She pants out a deep breath, collecting herself as the contraction finally passes.
“Can I get an epidural, or is it too late?” She asks Amelia, who immediately phones the anesthesiologist.
“No, honey, it’s not too late. The anesthesiologist is on her way.”
A few minutes and a way-too-long needle later, Rachel’s laying back in bed, still grasping both Kurt and Blaine’s hands as Jesse combs gently through her hair.
“So, my plan to have a natural birth totally didn’t work,” she remarks, and Kurt laughs softly.
“Rachel, you’re in a lot of pain. No one blames you.”
She shrugs. “I’m past the point of caring, I think. That’s what happens when you give birth, right? All shame goes out the window?”
Catharine nods. “Absolutely.”
“Ooh —“ Rachel winces suddenly. “Another bad one.”
“Breathe, Rach. You’re doing great,” Blaine encourages. “Seriously. You’re like Superwoman.”
She grins into the side of her pillow, still straining from the contraction. “Thank you.”
“You’re almost done,” Kurt soothes after a particularly bad spike. “Just breathe right through it.”
She sighs, relaxing back into the bed again. “I’ve told you before, Kurt, but both of you two give the best pep talks. Ever.”
“Do you still wish you were my boyfriend?” Kurt teases, and Rachel laughs, reaching up next to her to squeeze Jesse’s hand.
“I think it’s safe to say we’re both very happily taken.”
“Rachel? We’re going to check to see how far you’re dilated again,” Amelia says. “I’m thinking you might be almost ready to push.”
“There’s a lot of pressure down there,” she relays. “More than there was, and I just had a pretty bad contraction.”
“They are coming pretty close together,” Catherine reports, reading off of her running chart. “I’m going to call the doctor up while you check, because I think we might be having a baby in the next few minutes.”
“Oh my god,” Blaine breathes, meeting Kurt’s eyes excitedly. “It’s time, oh my god.”
“You’re at ten centimeters, Rachel. We’re going to set you up to push when the doctor gets here.”
Amelia looks at the excited group in front of her. “Let’s have a baby, everyone!”
“Okay, uh, how do you want us?” Kurt asks. “It’s up to you.”
“I need two people holding my hands,” she replies. “And then the other person can literally do whatever.”
“I kind of want to watch,” Blaine admits, a little bit sheepishly. “Is that weird? I promise it’s not weird.”
Rachel laughs. “It’s your baby, Blaine. We are so past the point of thinking anything is weird.”
“Then Kurt and I will hold your hands,” Jesse comments. “That works great.”
Dr. Harmon, Rachel’s doctor, walks into the room, slipping on gloves as she immediately gets to work.
“Hi, Rachel! How are you feeling, honey?”
“Ready to get this baby out of me,” she chuckles. “So ready.”
“And how are our new dads feeling?” She asks, grinning up at them.
“Nervous. Excited,” Blaine replies, and Kurt nods.
“Very, very nervous.”
“Everything will be just fine,” Dr. Harmon assures. “And how are you, Jesse? Can’t leave you out of things.”
“Doing fine, Dr. Harmon,” he replies. “Though I am also slightly nervous.”
“That’s perfectly natural,” she replies, setting Rachel’s legs up in the stirrups. “Okay, Rachel, I can tell you’re itching to push. Are you ready?”
Rachel nods, her breathing becoming heavier. “Yes.”
“Okay. Blaine, I want you to hold this leg back so she doesn’t slip off of the stirrup, please. Amelia, can you get the other leg?”
The two of them comply, and just like that, it’s go time.
“Okay, Rachel! Big push!”
As the nurses and Jesse all count down from ten, Kurt and Blaine offer her words of encouragement. “Come on, Rach! You can do it!”
She relaxes with a loud exhale, and Dr. Harmon encourages her to go right back into it.
“Come on, Rachel! She’s coming fast, keep going strong!”
After another ten seconds, she’s coaxed back into another strong push, and after that one, Dr. Harmon instructs her to relax for a moment.
“Blaine, look down.”
He obeys, eyes widening at the sight. “Oh my god, her head is out! That is insane, oh my god!”
“Okay, Rachel, right back into it,” Dr. Harmon says. “Just a small push.”
“Shoulders are out,” Catherine reports, laying a towel across Rachel’s chest. “She’s almost here!”
“One more push!”
Ten seconds later, the cries of a newborn baby fill the room, and tears are running down nearly everyone’s faces.
“Oh my god, Kurt, she’s here,” Blaine chokes out through a sob, immediately leaning into his husband’s side as Kurt wraps an arm around his waist and pulls him in close.
“Oh my god, hi Tracy,” Rachel smiles through her own tears as she’s laid on her chest, squirming and crying. The nurses rub a towel across her body to clean her up a bit before they take her off of Rachel to get her fully cleaned up.
“Congratulations,” Dr. Harmon says. “She’s adorable.”
“Thank you,” Kurt gasps out, watching his daughter’s every move.
“Would one of you like to cut the umbilical cord?” Dr. Harmon asks, and Blaine looks up at Kurt in question.
“Go,” Kurt chuckles, nudging his husband. “I’ll get the next one.”
Blaine nods, taking the scissors from Dr. Harmon and cutting in the designated area with a sense of awed reverence, absolutely stunned at the sight of his newborn daughter.
“Great job,” Dr. Harmon praises, and Amelia takes Tracy to finish wiping her down and weighing her.
“Kurt, she’s actually here,” Blaine lets out a watery chuckle, leaning back into Kurt’s side again.
“I know. I can’t believe it,” he murmurs, and he reaches down to squeeze Rachel’s hand. “Thank you so, so much.”
Rachel wipes a tear of her own away. “Absolutely. I love you guys so much.”
“We love you too,” Blaine replies, bending down to press a quick kiss to her cheek. “God, you’re incredible. We literally can never repay you.”
“Stop it. You know I wanted to do this for you from the start!”
“Your baby girl is exactly seven pounds,” Amelia comments, recording the weight on Tracy’s chart. “Have you guys picked out a name yet?”
“Her name’s Tracy Elizabeth,” Kurt answers, watching as Amelia moves to then measure her length.
“That’s beautiful,” she says as she works, soon recording the length as well. “19 inches.”
“God, she seems so small,” Blaine murmurs, squeezing Kurt’s waist gently. “I can’t believe it.”
“Why don’t we move you all to your recovery rooms?” Catherine suggests. “That way our dads can have some time with baby Tracy, and Rachel can get some rest.”
******
A few minutes later, Kurt and Blaine are all set up in their recovery room, Rachel and Jesse just across the hall.
They were set up with a room with a queen-sized hospital bed, meaning they can both sleep relatively comfortably for the time that they stay at the hospital.
There’s a soft knock on the door as Amelia brings in Tracy, all settled in her warmer. “Hey, guys. What we typically do now is give the baby some skin-to-skin time, and then we’ll work on feeding. Apparently Rachel is very determined to pump, so hopefully we’ll have a bottle ready soon.”
“Are we able to bring in visitors?” Kurt asks, and Amelia nods.
“Absolutely. We’ll be in eventually to finish up testing Tracy, but I’ll let you guys have some time alone with her.”
“Thank you,” Kurt says, seeing Blaine already hovering over Tracy’s warmer.
He smiles softly. “B, you can take her first. That way I can go get my parents in a few minutes.”
“Okay,” Blaine breathes, pulling his t-shirt over his head and gently lifting Tracy from her warmer, settling carefully into the bed with her laying contentedly on his chest.
“She’s so small,” Blaine chuckles quietly, fighting back more tears. “How can you love something so much so fast?”
“I have no idea,” Kurt replies, cuddling up next to him and softly running his fingers along Tracy’s tiny limbs. “She is beautiful.”
Tracy blinks her eyes open, making an effort to lift her head and look up at them.
“Oh my god, she’s looking at us!” Kurt grins. “Hi, Tracy. Papa and I love you so much.”
“We’re the crazy people you’ve heard singing to you for nine months,” Blaine adds, gently caressing her back. “Well, us and Aunt Rachel and Uncle Jesse.”
“You’re just going to have to get used to that,” Kurt comments, beaming as she wraps her hand around his outstretched finger. “You’ll probably be singing along in no time.”
“She is so gorgeous,” Blaine murmurs as Tracy continues to calmly stare up at the two of them. “She looks so much like you, Kurt. Look at her eyes.”
“Babies’ eye colors can change,” Kurt replies, but Blaine shakes his head.
“No, that is Kurt Hummel blue. Trust me, it’s my favorite color. I look at it every day.”
Kurt hums contentedly, refusing to make any more guesses towards who is the biological father when Tracy isn’t even hours old. It doesn’t matter anyway, and it never will.
“Should I go get my parents?” Kurt asks a few moments later. “Has your mom texted that she’s here yet?”
“Mom texted me a few minutes ago that she’ll be here in about an hour. But yes, you should go get Burt and Carole.”
“Okay. I’ll be right back,” Kurt climbs out of bed, leaning back to give his husband a quick kiss on the lips. “I love you.”
Blaine beams. “I love you too.”
As soon as Kurt enters the waiting room, Burt and Carole are on their feet and walking swiftly towards him.
“How is she? How is Rachel?” Carole asks, immediately pulling Kurt into a tight embrace.
“They’re both great. It went really smoothly,” he replies, letting his dad pull him into a hug as well. “Blaine’s with Tracy right now, and Rachel’s in her own recovery room with Jesse. Hopefully, we’ll get to feed her soon. We’re just waiting on Rachel for a bottle.”
“We’re so proud of you, kid,” Burt smiles, a tear slipping down his cheek. “Now take me to my granddaughter before I break down right in the middle of the waiting room for everyone to see!”
Kurt leads the two of them back to their room, making an effort to be nearly silent as they enter the room.
“It’s okay, she’s awake,” Blaine remarks with a grin. “Hi guys. How was your flight?”
“The longest flight of my life,” Burt replies, immediately striding up to the side of the bed. “Oh my god, she is beautiful.”
“Here, you guys can hold her,” Blaine comments, and Burt and Carole both pull up chairs to sit in
Burt lets out a watery chuckle when Blaine carefully transfers Tracy into his arms. “Hi, honey. You are so adorable, oh my god.”
Burt glances up at Kurt and Blaine. “You boys make cute babies.”
“Ah, well, Rachel helped a little,” Kurt grins, watching as his dad lets Tracy grasp onto his finger, still perfectly content.
“I can’t believe she’s here,” Burt smiles. “I am so, so proud of both of you. You’re going to be such great dads.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Kurt replies. “I learned from the best.”
“Okay, it’s my turn to hold her now,” Carole interjects, cradling Tracy gently when Burt passes her to her. “She is so precious, boys.”
There’s a knock on the door, and Amelia walks in with a full bottle in hand. “Sorry to interrupt, but we should probably feed Tracy now that we have a bottle ready.”
Blaine smiles over at Kurt. “You do it. I got to hold her first.”
As Carole transfers Tracy into Kurt’s arms, Burt stands and pulls Blaine into a hug.
“You kids deserve this happiness. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again —“ Burt rests a hand on Blaine’s shoulder, glancing over to where his son is now carefully feeding his granddaughter, a scene that none of them, even in their wildest dreams, could have created to this level of clarity.
“You won.”